THE POSITION 
OF THE 
UTERUS AND FOETUS 
AT THE 
END OF PREGNANCY. 
ILLUSTRATED BY SECTIONS THROUGH FROZEN BODIES 
BY 
WILHELM BEAUNE, M. D., 
PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LEIPZIG. 
DRAWN AFTER NATURE AND LITHOGRAPHED BY C. SCHMIEDEL COLORED BY F. A. HADPTVOGEL 
WITH ONE WOODCUT IN THE TEXT. 
SUPPLEMENT TO THE AUTHORS ~TOPOGRAPH.-ANATOM. ATLAS 
LONDON 
DAVID NUTT. WILLIAMS & NORGATE. 
270 STRAND. It HENRIETTA-STR., COY. GARD. 
LEIPZIG 
VEIT- & COMP. 
1872. 
NEW-YORK 
L. W. SCHMIDT. GERMAN BOOKSELLER. 
24. BARCLAY STREET-, THE POSITION 
OF THE UTERUS AND FOETUS 
AT THE END 
OF PREGNANCY 
ILLUSTRATED BY SECTIONS THROUGH FROZEN BODIES 
BY 
WILHELM BRAUN E, M. D 
PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LEIPZIG 
DRAWN AFTER NATURE AND LITHOGRAPHED BY C. SCHMIEDEL. 
COLORED BY F. A. HAUPTVOGEL 
WITH ONE WOODCUT IN THE TEXT. 
SUPPLEMENT TO THE AUTHORS „TOPOGRAPH.-ANATOM. ATLAS." 
1872. 
L. W. SCHMIDT, 
NEW-YORK, 
24, BAR C LAY -STREET NEAR BRODWAY 
LEIPZIG, YE IT & COMP. 
LEIPZIG, GIESECKE & DEVKIENT, TYP. INST. TAB. A. B 
The body which was brought to the dissecting room soon after death and 
still in a state of rigor mortis was that of a young woman 25 years of age 
who committed suicide by strangulation in the last month of her preg- 
nancy. Except the very visible impression caused by the rope round the 
neck, there was no trace of external injury. The genital organs were in 
the state corresponding to that period of gestation—uniformly hyper- 
aemic, and there was no evidence that they had suffered any ex- 
ternal injury. 
reached by the woman, as above mentioned, rendered it probable that 
she was not a primipara although the abdominal walls showed no 
linear markings and the internal os uteri was so narrow that only a 
small probe could be passed. 
Ihe large number and the varicose condition of the veins of the 
va§ina were remarkable and the section was such, that its cavity could 
be well seen in the left half of the preparation (Tab. A). The 
cervical portion of the uterus was seen lying strikingly low down in 
the vagina dragging with it the empty and contracted bladder. The 
latter has slipped down so to speak from the inner surface of the sym- 
ph} sis and the urethra, which is seen divided in the left half, shows a 
kind of a bend. Ihe external os uteri is here on a level with the 
lower edge of the symphysis pubis, whilst according to Moreau it is 
said to be on a level with the upper edge of the symphysis at the 
end ot pregnancy; and B. Schultze figures it as situated still higher up. 
The height of the fundus uteri corresponds pretty nearly to that of 
the lower margin of the first lumbar vertebra. This cannot however 
be precisely stated as the uterus had not been cut through at its 
highest point, the fundus inclining a little to the right so that it reached 
a point somewhat higher up. And these parts having during the pro- 
gress of the drawing begun to thaw, exact measurements on this point 
could not be taken. The fundus uteri however reaches the same point 
of the vertebral column as stated by Moreau, although according to 
B. Schultze’s measurements (Wandtafeln, Plate 6) the second lumbar 
vertebra indicates the position of the fundus uteri at the end of preg- 
nancy. The antero - posterior diameter of the uterine cavity and (in 
connection with it) that of the whole abdominal cavity, was less than 
is usually represented in drawings in, spite of the large and well de- 
veloped child. It is not improbable that besides individual differences 
the various attitudes of the body have some influence in determining 
this inasmuch as, in the recumbent posture the uterus finds a point 
d’appui on the vertebral column, whilst in the erect position the yiel- 
ding abdominal walls are pressed forward. It is also to be considered 
that in the dead subject generally speaking the antero-posterior diameter 
of the abdominal cavity is less than it is during life, on account of the 
more elevated position of the diaphragm. In the present case the 
distance between the lumbar vertebrae and the anterior abdominal 
walls was about two thirds of the antero-posterior diameter of the whole 
body, or the sagittal diameter of the highest point of the abdominal 
cavity, whilst in the female body which I examined, and which was in 
the second month of pregnancy, the column of the lumbar vertebrae 
projected a good deal beyond the middle of that diameter. 
Though it was the month of March when the body was brought into 
the dissecting room, yet the weather being warmer than is usual in this 
season, it was judged advisable to employ an artificial freezing mixture 
composed of salt and ice, and in this mixture the body was kept for 6 days 
during which time the ice and salt were repeatedly renewed, the tempe- 
rature being maintained at 10° R. So long a time was considered 
advisable in order to ensure the thorough congelation of all parts within the 
abdominal and pelvic cavities. And on sawing through the body it was 
actually found that the freezing had succeeded as well as could be 
desired. 
In order to make accurate tracings of both halves of the body and 
correctly represent what was shown in the preparation, the work was 
carried on in a cool cellar. Each day before the body began to thaw, the 
drawing was discontinued and the parts were again put into the freezing 
mixture in which they remained during the night. During this time the 
parts were left in the same unaltered position and the drawings correctly 
executed. 
The parts into which the foetus had been divided in sawing through 
the maternal body were at the last reunited, so that a view of the original 
position of the child within the body of the mother could be obtained. For 
that purpose I separated with the aid of a chisel the frozen foetal parts 
together with the liquor amnii from the left half of the uterus, moistened 
the cut surfaces with water and allowed them to freeze upon the right half 
of the foetus. 
The apparently intact child now lying in the right half of the uterus 
was drawn in its entirety. After the removal of all the remains of the 
liquor amnii the left half of the maternal body was sketched so as to 
show the empty uterine cavity. 
The foetus was in the second head position and was found to be a 
well developed female at term. The labia pudendi closed the vulva, the 
nails were well developed and projected beyond the fingers. The entire 
length of the foetus was 50 V 2 centimetres and its weight (without the um- 
bilical cord) 3195 grammes. The umbilical cord divided in the longi- 
tudinal section passed between the head and the right arm to the placenta 
which was attached to the right side of the uterus somewhat low down. 
As shown in the drawing of the section the greater part of the child 
was situated in the right half of the uterus. In making the section 
through the' maternal body the foetal head was divided obliquely, the 
greater part being on the left side of the section. The left arm toge- 
ther with a part of the shoulder was almost longitudinally divided 
and the fore arm flexed at right angles was cut through transversely. 
One half of the right fore arm and a portion of the right leg together 
with almost the whole foot projected beyond the middle line to the left 
side. The left knee was just grazed. The back and the abdomen were 
within the right half of the uterus. The greater quantity of the liquor 
amnii remained on the left side of the uterus. 
It should also be mentioned that the vessels of the maternal body 
were not injected, a circumstance which requires attention in estimating 
the thickness of the uterine walls, since almost all the veins of the 
uterine walls were empty. 
In spite of the relatively small antero-posterior diameter the ab- 
dominal cavity extended farther upwards. The diaphragm reached with 
its highest point the 7th. dorsal vertebra, whilst in men and middle 
aged non pregnant women it usually stands on a level with the 9th. 
dorsal vertebra. 
The bulk ot the intestines was pressed upwards and was 
chiefly in the left upper portion of the abdominal cavity. The stomach, 
much distended with food, was bent in its pyloric portion at a sharp 
angle backwards and to the left so that it was cut through twice. 
The uterus was in a relaxed state so that its anterior wall folded 
above the symphysis pubis formed a kind of excavation. The large and 
numerous veins of its substance appear in the anterior wall as simple 
stripes since they represent fissures which only become recognizable when 
their walls are drawn asunder. Only in the portio vaginalis and the 
adjoining portion of the vagina are they seen with wide openings. The 
portio vaginalis uteri was, relatively speaking, situated somewhat deeply 
down: the greater part of it being in the left half of the body, so that 
the section passed through its right half and opened only the terminal 
portion of the canal of the cervix uteri as seen in Tab. A. It wTas 
entirely filled up with tough mucus and opened into the uterine cavity 
Va centimetre below the cut surface, so that its upper portion could not 
be made visible in the drawing. Its length at the period of gestation 
The upper horizontal portion of the duodenum wrent directly back- 
wards. In the drawing of the left half of the body the contracted 
pylorus is seen with the duodenum, and somewhat distant from 
it the opening of the pancreatic and common bile ducts, which latter 
coming from the right above the duodenum, is seen in the section. 
Beneath the duodenum the pancreas is situated. 
The liver and spleen were not enlarged; the latter measured 
14,0 centimetres in length, 8 cm. in breadth and 5 cm. in depth. 
The duodenum and pyloric portions of the stomach were together with 
the rest of the intestines pushed over to the left owing to the fundus 
of the uterus inclining to the right. The rectum which was rather distended 
passed into the sigmoid flexure within the pelvic cavity. The commence- ment of the sigmoid flexure was situated to the right and was con- 
sequently divided. Between the rectum (the folds of which on the 
right side were so situated as to he mistaken in the drawing for 
valvulae conniventes) and the uterus, there was a coil of the small 
intestine/ the lowest part of the ileum which joins the colon ascendens. 
Such a state is said to occur, in the unimpregnated uterus, only in 
cases of anteversion. 
The anatomical conditions of the skeleton are of special importance. 
After the drawings were completed the halves of the skeleton were 
macerated and then joined as accurately as possible. The accompanying 
wood cut gives a view of it on a smaller scale. It will be seen that 
To define the limits of the pelvic peritoneum care must be taken 
that it is not mistaken for the fascia (rather strongly marked in the 
drawing) which descends for some distance between the uterus, bladder, 
and rectum. The peritoneum passes for a short distance only over 
the posterior wall of the vagina, and covers the half of the posterior 
wall of the contracted bladder, whilst the fascia (including loose and 
easily moveable connective tissue) descends nearly to the internal orifice 
of the urethra in front and close to the termination of the rectum 
behind. 
The length of the thoracic cavity appears on account of the high 
position of the diaphragm to be relatively short, but the antero-posterior 
diameter somewhat long. This is especially seen by comparing the 
present preparation with the section of the female body which I figured 
in my Atlas, Tab. 11. From it alone an enlargement of the base of the 
thorax during pregnancy cannot be assumed since measures taken before 
pregnancy are wanting for comparison with those taken after. 
The unchanged spirometric capacity of the thorax in pregnancy 
may be explained thus looking at it from an anatomical point of view 
though these relations have not as yet been clearly demonstrated. The 
longitudinal diameter of the thorax diminished by the pressing upward 
of the diaphragm, is compensated for by the increase of the antero- 
posterior diameter through tension of the abdominal muscles (acting over 
the enlarged uterus as a pulley) on the base of the thorax. 
Gerhard moreover found on examining 42 pregnant women at 
term, that in 36 the diaphragm maintained its normal position, in 5 it 
was slightly lower and in 1 only was it higher. Dorn found as the 
result of measurement taken by the Cyrtometer on pregnant women at 
term and the same after delivery, that in the great number of cases the 
transverse diameter of the base of the thorax was greater during preg- 
nancy than after delivery, whilst the antero-posterior was diminished. 
With the emptying of the uterine cavity this proportion became 
reversed—the sides of the thorax collapsed so to speak, the transverse 
diameter became diminished, the antero-posterior increased. (Bericht 
liber die Naturforscherversammlung zu Giessen, 1865 p. 236.) 
In the thoracic cavity the section deviated from the middle line to 
the right chiefly on account of the lateral curvature of the vertebral 
column, and passing through the calibres of the superior and inferior 
venae cavae divided the right auricle and the root of the right lung. 
Thus the opening of both veins into the heart was very clearly seen. 
The inferior vena cava which shortly before entering the heart receives 
the hepatic veins, opens into the right auricle from behind whilst the 
superior vena cava opens into it considerably more in front. Thus the 
axes of the two venae cavae form an angle which is rounded off by 
the prominence of the auricular septum. 
The prominence beneath which the left auricle is situated is the 
tubercle of Lower. In the right half the external wall of the right 
auricle is seen, whilst in the left the right ventricle is opened up at the 
orifice of which a piece of the rudimentary Eustachian valve is still 
situated. This rudimentary valve limits the posterior portion of the 
right auricle in which the position of the foramen ovale may still be 
recognised. In the anterior part of the auricle to which the superior 
vena cava points, the bulb of the aorta forms a slight projection. 
The aorta itself was not divided but a portion of it exposed. It 
passes upwards in front of the superior vena cava and disappears under 
it as the vein passes into the left innominate. 
the pelvis is slightly skoliotic as well as the vertebral column. But it 
may also be seen that the deviation of the sections from the middle 
line is not so considerable as may be supposed from the drawings. 
From the pelvis which was pretty accurately divided in the middle 
line, the section extends upwards to the right of the bodies of the vertebrae. 
In the dorsal region the articulations of the ribs are divided and it 
is not till the cervical region that the section again passes through the 
middle of the bodies of the vertebrae. 
In the head the line of the section gradually deviates to the right. 
Besides the lateral curvature it is noteworthy that there were present 
two cervical ribs, the one on the right side perfectly developed, that on 
the left rudimentary attached to the cervical vertebrae. There were 
7 cervical, only 11 dorsal and 5 lumbar vertebrae. To the sth. lumbar 
vertebra was attached a rudimentary vertebra; this was situated on the 
upper portion of the sacrum, forming a kind of accessory to the existing 
5 sacral vertebrae. 
The section passed through the right lung so that portions of it 
are seen in both plates. 
The soft parts of the neck were pushed far towards the left side 
by the greatly enlarged thyroid gland. The trachea was situated so 
much to the left that a piece of the thyroid cartilage was cut off. Of 
the oesophagus nothing is to be seen. 
The parts of the head are rendered sufficiently intellegible by the 
marks which are placed upon all the drawings. The brain was also 
divided through its right half. The radiation of the fibres into the 
corpus striatum is shown. Beneath the latter the inferior cornu of the 
right ventricle passes containing the elevation of the pes hippocampi. 
In the drawing of the right half a portion of the Gasserian ganglion is 
seen lying beneath the dura mater together with a portion of the fibres 
of the trigeminus. 
The pelvic diameters were as follows; conjugate 9,5 cm. (at the 
narrowest point of the pelvis 9,2); right sacro-cotyloid 6,5 left 8, 
transverse 14,5 left oblique diameter 12,7 right oblique diam. 14 cm. 
The sacrum was 11 cm. high and 11,8 broad. It was therefore 
a somewhat obliquely distorted pelvis which however had such 
dimensions that it may be assumed delivery could have taken place 
without operative interference. TAB. C. D. 
In the month of May 1870 the body of another woman pregnant 
at term was brought to the dissecting room. The rigor mortis was 
still persisting. The woman had, as was found out afterwards, 
drowned herself during labour. She was tall, and to judge from her 
powerful frame and callous hands, a working woman of about 35 
years of age. Except the curvature of the dorsal vertebrae to be 
mentioned hereafter, all the other organs were perfectly normal. The 
uterus reaching above the umbilicus could be well felt through the 
very prominent abdomen. The head of the foetus was impacted in 
the pelvis. On examination of the genital organs it was found that 
the liquor amnii had not yet escaped and that the bag of waters of the 
size of an apple was still intact in the vagina. 
body. I cut it off close to its insertion because it lay so tightly com- 
pressed upon the child, that it could only have been removed with diffi- 
culty and not without altering the position of the left lower extremity. 
Before labour began, the child whose whole figure is seen, was 
probably in the second head position. But at the death of the mother 
it was, as seen in the preparation, at the beginning of the stage of 
expulsion. The natural rotation of the head within the pelvis had 
commenced and the head especially was rotated more to the right 
than the trunk. And whilst the shoulders were as yet entirely in the 
false pelvis, the head had already entered the true. The force which 
had pushed it downwards must have been considerable. The head was 
large and the pelvis not very roomy. The effect of that force can still 
be recognised in the shape of the head. The occiput is pyriform and 
pointed and, as found on examination, a somewhat extensive caput 
succedaneum had formed on the skull. 
Without injecting the vessels, which would have caused only delay 
and perhaps troublesome extravasations, the body was immediately 
enclosed in a tin case. II was placed in the dorsal posture as evenly 
as possible and no support given to either head or extremities. After 
the deep cellar in which the freezing mixture was prepared had been 
thoroughly cooled by large masses of ice and salt, the body was allowed 
to freeze; 180 (U. of ice and 60 U. of salt were required and distri- 
buted in four successive freezing mixtures. A thermometer introduced 
through a tin pipe into the case showed the temperature of the mass 
of ice and its rise indicated the time when it became necessary to 
renew the freezing mixture. The whole mass, from which the water 
could freely.flow off, was covered in by straw and plank. The cellar 
was so closed everywhere that no external air could enter to raise the 
temperature. For eight days the body was kept in a temperature of 
—l2° R. and this time was perfectly sufficient to allow'the body to freeze 
as hard as bone. The sawing through was done in the usual way 
and the parts preserved for the purpose of tracing and drawing in the 
same manner as was done with the subject of the preceding plates. 
Through the close embrace of the uterus the foetal limbs nowhere 
showed the round form and usual easy flexure of the extremities. 
In the present case the child was tightly packed up into the narrowest 
possible space. Into the space between the two feet and the right gluteal 
region the scrotum was pressed like a narrow wedge. The skin 
showed many striae and portions of it were firmly compressed into 
prominent ridges. The nape of the neck appeared as a narrow fissure 
between the closely folded skin of the back and occiput. Especially 
remarkable is the impression upon the child’s head in the left mastoid 
region. It was caused by the pressure of the contracted pelvis. 
Immediately beneath it the section of the symphysis pubis can be seen. 
A similar deep impression is caused by the internal os uteri upon the 
left arm and in the longitudinal folds and furrows of the right forearm 
traces are left of its almost longitudinal retraction. 
For almost four weeks the thawing had to be prevented by fresh 
freezing mixture, as so long a time was required to complete the drawings. 
The section passed pretty accurately through the middle line from 
below upwards; only in the symphysis the middle line was not per- 
fectly kept, but the deviation was so slight (the cavity of the articula- 
tion being only one line beneath the cut surface), that it need not enter 
into consideration. After the tracing and drawing of the right half had 
been entirely finished, (which not only required three weeks of hard 
work but during which time also the right as well as the left half had 
to be kept uniformly frozen), the maternal parts were chiseled off from 
the left half, in order to obtain that half of the child intact and in an 
unaltered position. It could not however be expected that the foetal 
parts could be got out from the tightly grasping uterus without any 
change of their position occurring. Therefore a drawing of the left 
half of the mother as well as of the child could not be made in the 
same way as succeeded in the first body. Now the hard frozen foetal 
half which was obtained quite intact, was made to freeze upon the right 
one and thus a correct drawing of the entire child made. Then the 
whole child was removed from the right maternal half, which was 
effected by thawing the abdominal wall and bending that of the uterus; 
it thus became possible to make a drawing of the empty right half 
of the uterine cavity and, although it cannot be pronounced perfectly correct 
as regards the inner surface of the fundus, yet it represents quite faithfully 
the position of the internal os and cervix uteri. In the same way the 
depth of the uterine cavity could be measured pretty accurately from 
the cut surface and also the position of the right Fallopian tube. 
The abdomen of the child was almost transversely divided, but on 
account of the axial turning the saw passed through the thorax and 
still more so through the head in a direction intermediate between the 
antero-posterior and the transverse diameters. It is consequently diffi- 
cult to recognise the individual parts of the brain in the section of the 
child’s head: only the cerebrum and cerebellum can well be seen and a 
portion of the corpus callosum distinguished. More however cannot be 
made out. Beneath the anterior lobe of the cerebrum (see drawing 
above) lies a section of the orbital cavity together with a portion of 
the eyeball. Further towards the trunk is the transverse section of 
the inferior maxilla together with a dental follicle. In the cervical 
region which is here only represented by a deep incurvation of the 
skin forming a narrow fissure the oblique sections of the trachea and 
oesophagus are seen and then the heart with the adjacent right lung 
and the thymus gland. The cavity of the pleura did not contain any 
notable quantity of fluid, whilst in that of the peritoneum a large 
quantity was found, which is also indicated by the wide interspaces 
between the different coils of the intestines. The left lobe of the liver 
covered the spleen. Below was the contracted and empty bladder and 
beneath it, the rectum distended by meconium. The contents and color 
of the large intestines were characteristic, whilst the extremely con- 
tracted small intestine contained only a small quantity of pale mucus, 
a thick mass consisting of bile, debris of cells, lanugo etc. distended 
the various portions of the large intestines. The mass in the upper 
portion was yellow and gradually assumed the greenish black color of 
meconium in the lower. I have found exactly the same in examining 
normal infantile bodies which I extracted after cephalotripsy and I have 
no hesitation in pronouncing that state normal. The liquor amnii was, 
on the whole, not abundant. It was chiseled out from between the 
prominences and folds of the infantile body to obtain a better view of 
it and could not therefore be exactly measured. Only on the abdomen 
of the foetus on the left of the observer, a stripe of the frozen liquor 
amnii is seen. This represents the ‘after waters’ discharged after the 
birth of the child and contrasts with the ‘fore-waters’ which, presenting 
before the head distend the vagina. The chorion and amnion can well 
be distinguished in the bag about to burst as well as in the ‘after waters’. 
At last the child, which had been kept frozen for a long time 
without much trouble and expense, was drawn of natural size from 
behind in order to show the observed axial turning of its body. (Tab. D.) 
Thus the five plates were made to represent the essential relations 
as faithfully as possible. 
The child was a well developed male at term weighing 3319,2 
grammes. In this the umbilical cord was included. For this passed 
downward beneath the left leg, there it turned in order to reascend over 
the joint of the left foot and at the abdomen it sharply turned to the 
placenta which was situated in the upper portion of the uterus. Now 
in removing the left half of the child the umbilical cord had to be 
divided since its placental insertion was in the left half of the maternal 
Of special interest however is the uterus, the relations of which 
could only be carefully studied after the removal of the whole child. 
Therefore a particular drawing of the empty uterine cavity appeared to he necessary. The uterus closely surrounds the child and nowhere 
shows any folds which could point to a laxity of its walls; its 
longitudinal axis is directed almost perpendicularly to the plane of the 
pelvic inlet: the uterus appears to have retained its contraction even 
after death. The internal os uteri lies somewhat above the pelvic inlet 
and is marked by a large vein, the only one found patulous in the 
uterine wall on account of its engorgement with blood. 
of the uterus, was in the present case not so considerable as in that 
shewn in the preceding plates. There the position also of the uterus 
was different although this difference is not so great as it may appear 
at first sight. In both cases the vertebral column projects only beyond 
the first third of the thickness of the whole trunk. 
To sketch the child the left half of the mother had to be chiseled 
off and thus unfortunately the skeleton was destroyed. It was there- 
fore impossible to prepare and to sketch the skeleton also in the same 
way as had been done in the other case. But that loss is of no con- 
sequence. The pelvis is found to be perfectly normal, the conjugate 
diameter measuring 11 cent. The vertebral column had no lateral 
deviation and the section passed exactly through its middle line. The 
great curvature of the dorsal and cervical portions of the vertebral 
column is of no importance to our present purpose. 
In the empty uterine cavity, 3,5 cent, above the symphysis pubis 
and 2,6 cent, above the promontory, the internal os uteri is seen as a 
projecting semicircle, distinctly separating the dilated cavity of the 
cervix from that of the body of the uterus. The fully dilated external 
os uteri is seen as a slight prominence in the vagina. It extends ob- 
liquely from the region of the lower margin of the symphysis pubis to 
the junction between the coccyx and the sacrum and surrounds the 
protruding occiput. The uterine orifice of the right Fallopian tube is 
especially well marked. 
With regard to the intestines, which, together with the rather 
empty stomach were pushed upward just as in the other body, there 
was nothing remarkable. The liver and the spleen were normal. The 
former weighed 1500 grammes. Its anterior margin was turned up- 
wards. The latter weighed 200 grammes and measured in length, breadth 
and depth 14, 7, and 3 cent, respectively. It was consequently somewhat 
smaller than the spleen of the other pregnant woman at term. The 
abdominal cavity measured from the symphysis pubis to the highest part 
of the diaphragm, had exactly the same height as the one represented 
in the first drawings. But the two thoracic cavities differed consider- 
ably from one another as regarded their height. I am therefore not 
inclined to attach any importance to the uniformity in both preparations 
of the depth at the base of the thorax which here also considerably 
surpasses the depth of the thorax of the woman in the second month 
of pregnancy delineated on plate II of the Atlas. To arrive at any 
conclusion on the depth of the cavity of the thorax during pregnancy, 
measurements must be made on the living subject, since attention must 
be paid to the capacity of the thorax both before and after delivery. 
The depth of the uterine cavity as measured from the horizontal 
plane of the cut surface to the deepest point was 6,5 cent. The length 
from the internal os to the fundus uteri was 16,5 cent. The distance 
between the external and the internal os uteri along the pelvic axis 
Avas II cent. The thickness of the uterine walls showed great varia- 
tion in different places. The placenta was situated high up at the 
fundus and by far the greater part of it in the left half of the section, 
therefore the umbilical cord had to he divided. 
Whilst the rectum still remained pervious at some places, the 
bladder was entirely emptied and flattened. Its Avails behind the sym- 
physis pubis were so thinned that they could hardly be distinguished. 
Above and beloAV the symphysis where the pressure had not so forcibly 
acted upon the bladder, it is thicker and consequently more easily 
distinguishable. The thinnest part is behind the symphysis pubis and 
the drawing represents it rather thicker than it actually was. This 
Avas necessary to slioav the continuity of the cavity of the bladder. 
A distension of the bladder could have taken place only in its upper 
portion and thus would have separated the anterior abdominal walls 
for some distance from the uterus. 
Nothing of special interest can be added in regard to the relations 
of the heart, the trachea, the larynx, the buccal cavity and the brain. 
Those parts are sufficiently explained in the drawings by marks on 
the points of importance. 
The prominence of the abdominal walls caused by the projection Plates A-C missing W.Braune, topogr, anal. Atlas. Supplem. 
Tab. I). 
/v. i/Td,mis praep. 
C, Scluniedel ad natin lapid. delrn 
irrci Veit & Comp. Lipsiae. 
J. ft. Fritzsche imp.Lipsiae